A Forever War

Israel, Palestine and the struggles for statehood

Colin Shindler

• Publisher: Swift Press
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• eBook ISBN:
  9781800755406
• Subtopic: Middle Eastern Politics
• Index: Politics & International Relations

For over a century, the Middle East has been riven by conflict driven by Jewish and Arab nationalism. They came about  at the same point in history with claims over the same territory. 

Their encounter  has evolved into one of the most enduring and divisive geopolitical issues of the modern era – one defined by its complexity and its extremism and unfolding against a backdrop of 24-hour rolling news and social-media outrage.  A Forever War: Israel, Palestine and the Struggles for Statehood reflects on the key questions: How did this state of affairs come about? And will it be a forever war?

At a time when so much coverage is based on prejudice, fear and ignorance, Colin Shindler, Emeritus Professor of Israel Studies at SOAS, presents an authoritative view of this tragic conflict and dissects the current situation. Tracing the religious, political and historical motivations of both sides throughout many decades of turmoil and upheaval,  A Forever War is the concise and non-partisan overview of the conflict that is so sorely needed. 

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Timeline
• Preface
• Introduction: Two States for Two Peoples
• 1 The Origins of Zionism
• 2 Left and Right
• 3 The March of Palestinian Nationalism
• 4 The Land of Israel and the State of Israel
• 5 Between Camp David and Oslo
• 6 From Nationalism to Islamism
• 7 Arabs, Jews and the Allure of Revolution
• 8 Netanyahu’s Zig-Zag Trail
• 9 The Rise of the Religious Radicals
• 10 The End of Empire
• 11 The Rise and Fall of Iran
• 12 Donald Trump, Christian Evangelicals and Jewish Liberals
• 13 Revolutionary Antisemitism
• 14 Netanyahu’s Folly
• Afterword
• Acknowledgements
• Notes